


For the Memories

by MxTicketyBoo



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Sex, Bottom Dedue Molinaro, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, M/M, Married Couple, Picnics, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-Canon, Slice of Life, Top Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MxTicketyBoo/pseuds/MxTicketyBoo
Summary: Dedue wants to tell Ashe he doesn’t need anything more than this—Ashe’s company, his laughter, his kisses, his smiles, and most of all, the way Ashe looks at him with stars in his eyes...---Ashe spoils his husband Dedue on his birthday, but the surprise isn't quite what Dedue is expecting.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 22
Kudos: 69





	For the Memories

**Author's Note:**

> For my king, Dedue, on his birthday.
> 
> Thanks to Dusty for the beta read and the title! <3

Dedue wakes to soft lips brushing his cheekbone and a sweet voice whispering in his ear. “Happy birthday.”

Another gentle kiss touches the corner of his mouth. Dedue smiles slightly but doesn’t open his eyes.

“Good morning, husband,” Ashe says, nuzzling his chin. “Get up, sleepyhead. It’s a beautiful day.”

Dedue shoots an arm out from under the blankets and grabs Ashe around the waist, yanking him onto the bed.

Ashe lands on top of him with a startled squeak, followed by a light, breathless laugh. “Ooh, so you _are_ awake?”

Dedue opens his eyes to see Ashe grinning down at him, and truly, it feels like looking into the face of something divine—radiant, dazzling, overwhelming. Ashe has never failed to enrapture him, drawing him in, pulling Dedue along in his wake the same way flowers turn their heads to trace the path of sunlight. Dedue bends toward him as nature intended, and Ashe reaches back, warming him, chasing away shadows, the bright beacon that sets his universe alight.

Over the years, Dedue’s learned that love can be a wild, blazing, ferocious thing. Ashe’s love is the complete opposite—tender and sustaining, like a cleansing rain after an endless drought, the first bite of a favored meal, the familiar, comforting scent of home. 

For Dedue, it’s simply necessary. Vital sustenance. Lifeblood.

It’s _everything_.

“Good morning.” Dedue sweeps his hands from Ashe’s shoulders down to his waist and farther, to the plump globes of his backside. But before he can so much as squeeze, Ashe wriggles from his grasp and sits upright to straddle his thighs.

“Huh-uh.” Ashe shakes his head, patting Dedue’s chest, a playful smile teasing at the edges of his mouth. “Keep those wandering hands to yourself, sir. Breakfast is waiting on the table.”

“Is that so?” Dedue asks as he grabs Ashe’s hips to move him right where he needs him most. “Will it keep, my love?”

Ashe sinks his teeth into his lower lip and then glances over his shoulder. When he turns back, the beginnings of a flush stain his freckled cheeks. “I… The kitties will get it. Hester’s probably already on the table.”

Dedue chuckles softly. “Perhaps they should have a treat as well, on this special day.” He tilts his pelvis, rocking his stiffening length against the curve of Ashe’s rear through the thin blanket. 

Ashe trembles and moves with him, a slow, subtle grind. “Dedue…”

Dedue slips his fingers beneath the hem of Ashe’s loose linen shirt, pushing it up to reveal his soft, flat stomach. He draws his callused palms up Ashe’s flanks, finds those tiny blush-pink nipples and thumbs them until Ashe starts writhing in his lap. “Do not fret, dear one. I will help you cook again, if the kittens eat our meal.”

Ashe whimpers, and for a moment, he looks so torn Dedue almost stops, concerned he might be pressuring his husband into something he doesn’t truly want—or at least not right at this particular moment. Then Ashe laughs, whips the shirt over his head, and tosses the garment aside. “All right,” he says, leaning down until their lips brush, “but we’re counting this as your first gift.”

Dedue is too busy returning Ashe’s kiss to tell him if this is the only gift he gets today, he’ll consider himself the most blessed of men.

***

It’s quite a while before they make it to the kitchen, and as Ashe predicted, the two whiskered hellions have made a mess of Dedue’s birthday breakfast.

The kittens had looked so pure and innocent when Dedue found them lurking near the log pile behind the cottage a couple of nights ago. One was a tortoiseshell, the other pure black, both of them scrawny enough to be dwarfed by his huge palms when he bent to pick them up. But in the tradition of all curious babies who’d found their legs, they got into positively everything they shouldn’t—including any unattended food they could sink their tiny teeth into.

“Well,” Dedue says, calmly observing the scattered remains of their meal. “Your hard work did not go to waste. It appears they enjoyed themselves.” 

The culprits are curled up on their mat in the corner, dreaming the dreams of the full-bellied and content. 

Ashe looks in their direction and snorts. “Greedy things. They left us nothing but crumbs.” He doesn’t sound put out about it, though. If anything, he sounds amused, which makes Dedue drop a fond kiss on the top of his hair. He already knows they'll be taking the furry little rascals with them when they leave.

“What shall we make, then?” Dedue asks as he begins to gather the dirty dishes.

Ashe tilts his head, contemplative. “Something small. Perhaps just a snack to tide us over until lunchtime. I have plans.”

“Oh?” Dedue arches his brows.

Ashe gives him a secretive smile. “It’s a surprise. How about some eggs and toast?”

“That would be fine.”

They move around the kitchen preparing a light meal to replace the one they’d lost to hungry kittens. It’s not their usual space in their quarters at the inn they own in Fhirdiad, but that of a rented cottage where they’ve come on their first official holiday since the end of the war five years ago. They’d left their pride and joy in the hands of Ashe’s siblings, a trusted barmaid, and the cook they took on during the busier seasons. 

Their family would care for the inn as if it were their own, of that Dedue has no doubt, but it’s very difficult, at times, for him to relax. His thoughts constantly turn to his sprawling garden behind the inn and all the work that needs doing there. Dedue isn’t one to be idle, but Ashe insisted on the trip, for both his birthday and the celebration of their one-year wedding anniversary. A well-deserved week to celebrate, Ashe had said. And if _he_ was willing to take a few days away from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives—Ashe, who’d work himself to the bone if allowed—then Dedue couldn’t rightfully protest. Ashe deserves a break, and if that’s true, perhaps it holds that Dedue deserves one as well. They get so little time to spend alone together, after all. He must remember to cherish these days for the gift they are.

“Why don’t you take a bath?” Ashe suggests once they’ve finished eating. “I’ll clean up here and prepare the rest of your surprise.”

Dedue hesitates. “Are you certain? I am happy to help.”

Ashe goes up on his toes to kiss him. “I know you are, but this is your day to rest and let me spoil you for once. All right? I’ll bring some hot water in to top it off.”

Dedue nods. “Of course. If that is what you wish.”

“It is.” Ashe pats his hip. “Go ahead. Enjoy a nice, long soak. I have plans for you later.” 

Ashe’s smile takes on a wicked slant, and a shiver excitement slides down Dedue’s spine. That expression—no matter when or where he sees it—always means good things for him. Very good things.

At the start of their relationship, it wasn’t easy for them to be so playful with each other. Not for a lack of desire, but rather, Dedue’s own feelings of inadequacy about his conversational skills, and Ashe’s inherent, bone-deep kindness, which prevented him from being the sort of person to pressure anyone into anything, ever, but especially not Dedue. Ashe could haggle like no other, and proved it time and time again whenever they visited the market together, but he saved those persistent bartering skills for the vendors in their stalls. With Dedue, at least in the beginning, he’d been tentative to ask for what he wanted, shy, blushing, and so sweetly endearing.

Eventually, though, despite a few small blunders along the way, they’d learned each other’s every secret and desire, building a foundation of trust and intimacy layer by layer, stone by stone. 

Now, they’ve become comfortable enough that neither of them ever hesitates to reach for the other or to ask for what they want. For Dedue, who’d grown accustomed to humbling himself, stifling his needs, masking his anger, it means the world to finally be free to express his feelings honestly, without fear of repercussions. Ashe has seen his rage, and his tears, and loved him through it all.

Dedue takes his bath, then dresses, straightens the bedding, and tends to the kittens while Ashe has his turn.

In the early afternoon, they leave the cottage with a picnic basket in hand. Ashe hums a cheery tune under his breath as they walk the sun-dappled forest path, fingers laced and arms swinging between them. They’d found a meadow while exploring their first evening here, and Dedue assumes that’s where they’re headed now for the rest of Ashe’s surprise.

Dedue wants to tell Ashe he doesn’t need anything more than this—Ashe’s company, his laughter, his kisses, his smiles, and most of all, the way Ashe looks at him with stars in his eyes—but Dedue doesn’t want to seem ungrateful or diminish the time and effort Ashe put into whatever he has planned. It will be thoughtful, Dedue knows, because that’s who Ashe is as a person, down to his very core. Considerate, generous, loyal. Fiercely protective.

Dedue loves him so much.

He squeezes Ashe’s fingers as they step from the trees into the meadow. It’s a relatively small clearing, but it’s beautiful all the same. Long, lush grass. To one side, wildflowers in a riot of bright colors. And best of all, it’s private, part of the land owned by the lord they’d rented it from. A little slice of paradise, solely for the two of them.

Ashe removes a blanket from the top of the woven basket and together they spread it over a partially shaded patch of grass.

“Sit, sit,” Ashe says with a wave. “You’re not to do anything else while we’re out here, all right? Leave everything to me.”

Dedue offers him a small smile. “As you wish.”

He watches as Ashe lays out their picnic. A loaf of bread, a pot of honey, grapes and shiny red apples, a jug of wine, and a pair of small meat pies—pheasant and wild mushrooms, if Dedue’s nose isn’t mistaken, with roasted garlic and tiny pearl onions. One of Ashe’s favorite recipes.

Ashe sets a short knife next to the fruit and grins up at him. “Let’s eat.”

Dedue selects one of the pies and bites into it, smiling to himself at the familiar taste, rich savory gravy and chunks of flavorful pheasant. They chat idly about the kittens, about the trip and the markets they intend to visit on their way back home. The ambient sounds of nature fill the gaps in conversation—chirping birds and creatures skittering in the underbrush, the occasional buzz of an insect coming to investigate their meal.

Ashe slices an apple, drizzles it with honey, and offers Dedue a piece dripping with golden sweetness. Dedue leans forward and takes a bite, humming softly.

“I made you a cake,” Ashe says, thumb lingering against his lower lip, “but I left it at the cottage for later. For now, this can be dessert.” His mouth crooks up at the corner. “And me, if you like.”

Dedue swallows his sticky treat. He’s already feeling pleasantly warm from the sunshine and the wine, but Ashe’s words make him even hotter. “Again?” he asks, raising his brows. But the prospect sets his heart to racing. 

“A little different this time.” Ashe moves closer and grabs the hem of Dedue’s tunic. “Can we take this off?”

Dedue nods and lifts his arms so Ashe can pull the garment over his head. Ashe folds it and lays it aside, careful as ever, and then does this same with his own loose shirt.

When he’s done, Ashe reaches for the pot of honey. “Why don’t you lie down?”

Dedue lowers himself to the blanket, settling on his back, only to make a startled noise when Ashe pulls the dipper free of the pot and holds it over his chest, letting thick, sticky honey drip onto one of his nipples.

Ashe sets the pot aside and then bends to follow the path of the honey with his tongue, swirling around the dusky bud. Dedue hisses, reaching for Ashe without thought. He threads his fingers into the silvery-gray strands of Ashe’s hair and holds him close to his chest as Ashe moans and licks at the amber fluid like a cat lapping up cream.

“ _Ashe_ ,” Dedue says, tense and breathless.

“Mmm.” Ashe sucks briefly and then sits up, smacking his lips, eyes alight with joy and lust. “You taste good. Roll onto your belly and let me taste you somewhere else.”

“Oh.” Heat rushes to Dedue’s face… and his groin. He’s still not accustomed to this sort of talk. Not that he doesn’t enjoy it from Ashe, but he feels only awkward when he tries to reciprocate.

“Dedue.” Ashe cups his face in both hands and smiles down at him. “I’d like to make you feel good. Will you let me?” Dedue nods, and Ashe’s smile widens. “Come on, then. Help me strip off the rest.”

Ashe attacks his boots and pulls them off one after another. He unlaces Dedue’s breeches with nimble fingers, and Dedue lifts his hips to allow Ashe to pull them off, along with his underthings.

“You look lovely here in the sunlight,” Ashe tells him once they’re both naked. His gaze is both loving and appreciative as it roams over Dedue’s body. “All for me.”

“Always for you,” Dedue says simply.

Ashe leans down to kiss one of the many scars on his broad chest, and with a gentle pat to his hip, encourages Dedue to roll over.

Dedue rests his cheek against his folded arms, lets his eyes slide shut and his thighs part as Ashe moves to kneel between them. 

He jumps slightly when Ashe grips the globes of his ass, gently massaging before palming them open. The first touch of Ashe’s tongue makes him sigh, and Dedue concentrates on easing the tension from his muscles, allowing himself to relax under Ashe’s tender ministrations.

Ashe works him loose with long, slow licks and sucking kisses. Dedue moans, quietly pleading, until Ashe draws back. “Just a moment, love.”

There’s some rifling as Ashe presumably digs around in the picnic basket. When he returns and rubs a finger across Dedue’s entrance, it’s slick with oil.

“So you did have plans for me,” Dedue says, smiling to himself, eyes still closed.

Ashe’s soft laugh washes over him. “I told you I did.” He pushes two slippery fingers inside, meeting little resistance with Dedue so wet and ready from his tongue.

Dedue grunts from the intrusion, but rocks his hips into Ashe’s touch, grinding back as Ashe explores, plunging his fingers in and out, rubbing his sensitive rim, seeking that delightful spot and then _rubbing_ in firm circles until hot thrums of pleasure ripple along Dedue’s spine and over his nerve-endings, until his thighs shake and a low whine tears from his throat.

“Shh. Don’t worry, love. I’ll give you what you need.” The fingers are gently removed, and Dedue hears the slick sound of Ashe applying oil to his cock.

In the next moment, Ashe grips his hips, drawing them up until Dedue is kneeling with his chest pressed to the ground. There’s a moment of blunt pressure before the head slides inside, and then nothing but bliss as Ashe sinks in to the root.

Dedue exhales shakily and opens his eyes, staring dazedly across the meadow and the shadowy forest beyond. The stretch is familiar and so very welcome, a physical connection he’s only shared with Ashe. Only ever _wanted_ to share with Ashe. 

“You feel amazing,” Ashe murmurs, stroking his flanks.

“As do you.” Dedue bumps back against him. “Ashe, please. You can move now.”

Ashe withdraws nearly all the way, then pushes back in, deep. He falls into a rhythm of long, forceful thrusts, slowly building up speed until their bodies are smacking together, the sound echoing through the clearing, and Dedue’s skin is covered in a thin sheen of sweat that has nothing to do with the sun overhead.

He reaches beneath himself to stroke his shaft in time with Ashe’s movements. Ashe adds a hand almost immediately, lacing his fingers through Dedue’s, and together, they work his cock as Ashe drives in, faster, harder, the motion of his hips growing more and more erratic.

Dedue is the first to reach his peak, spilling warm, slippery seed over their entwined fingers and the blanket below. Behind him, Ashe groans, and with a final rough shove, finds his own release, the pulse of his cock drawing a moan from Dedue as Ashe fills him with his spend.

After a few breathless moments, Ashe eases out. Dedue lowers himself to settle on his side, where Ashe joins him and curls against his chest, still panting from exertion.

Dedue pushes sweaty bangs out of Ashe’s eyes and presses a kiss to his flushed, freckled cheek. “That was lovely.”

Ashe kisses him back and laughs against his mouth. “It always is, with you.”

“Allow me to thank you, dear heart,” Dedue says, nuzzling their noses together. “I thoroughly enjoyed my surprise.”

“Oh!” Ashe shoots up so abruptly he nearly knocks their foreheads together. “Oh, sorry, Dedue. This wasn’t your surprise. Or well, not all of it. I got kind of carried away.” He chuckles, and then moves to the picnic basket.

What he pulls free makes Dedue blink in confusion. It looks like the scarf he’s worn almost daily since the war, and yet… not.

Dedue sits upright and accepts the bundle as Ashe hands it over.

“It’s not perfect.” Ashe rubs the back of his neck, sheepish and endearing as ever. “And it took me quite a while to make it. I could only work on it when you were away or while I was visiting with Annette, but I like to think I got it pretty close. Mercie gave me some helpful advice.”

Dedue rolls out the scarf and stares down at the knitted length. It’s lumpy in some spots, uneven in others, and the colors aren’t entirely exact, but… “You remade my scarf,” he says, stunned.

“I tried.” Ashe touches one end, his mouth twisted ruefully. “It’s not too bad for a first attempt, I don’t think, but I’ll get better. I promise.” He meets Dedue’s gaze and smiles, tremulous and hopeful. “It’s just I noticed yours was getting so worn and thin, and the edges are fraying. I know how much it means to you, and I wanted you to be able to put that one away somewhere safe. You can wear this one instead and save the other for the memories.”

Dedue runs the material through his broad hands, his eyes stinging. Ashe is right; it _isn’t_ perfect, not physically, at least. But the time and attention, the effort, the care, and most of all, the _love_ Ashe put into it is so blindingly obvious his heart seizes in his chest. The scarf crumples in his fists, and he bows his head, overcome by a sudden, poignant swell of emotion.

“Oh, Dedue.” Ashe reaches for him. His hand touches Dedue’s face, and Dedue realizes with shock that his cheeks are wet. He hadn’t even noticed when the tears began. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset—”

“No,” Dedue interrupts. He covers Ashe’s hand with his own. “I am not upset. This is… This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever…” He pulls Ashe into his lap, crushing the scarf between them, uncaring that they're both naked and sticky and that it’ll probably need a washing after this. He can’t help but want Ashe as close as possible, so close he feels surrounded by Ashe’s warmth, his voice, his scent, so beloved and familiar.

He buries his face in Ashe’s hair and just breathes for a moment, trying to gather the words to express his immense gratitude for such a considerate gesture. Nothing sounds right in his head. Nothing seems like _enough_.

“Are you okay?” Ashe asks, his hands moving over Dedue’s back, soothing, caring, always so attentive and kind.

Dedue leans away to meet his eyes. “I love you. I do not know how to thank you.”

Ashe smiles then. “I love you, too. And you don’t have to thank me. I know you’d do the same for me.”

“I would,” Dedue says, because it’s true. “Yet, still, I feel the need to thank you. For your time, for your care, for everything you do. I am… eternally grateful.”

“Thank me with a kiss, and that’ll be good enough for me. I’ll make you another scarf when this one wears thin. And then another, and another. You’ll always have it to warm your neck and remind you of home.”

“Home,” Dedue says, and he knows Ashe means Duscur, his place of birth, his country, his people. Dedue had told Ashe the story of the men who’d saved his life and given him the original scarf once he’d recovered enough to begin the journey that eventually reunited him with the rest of the Blue Lions at the Great Bridge of Myrddin. And Ashe remembered the significance of the scarf, because of course he would.

One day, Dedue thinks, they’ll travel to Duscur together. He’ll see for himself what’s come of His Majesty’s efforts to restore the land to its rightful people, to rebuild homes and replenish the forests, to right so many countless wrongs. 

And perhaps, in time, they’ll consider finding a new location for their inn. One near the place Dedue had been born and raised.

But for now, home has another meaning, too. Here, in his husband’s arms, Dedue will always have somewhere to belong, wherever else life may take them along the way.

“Thank you,” Dedue says. It’s simple, but sometimes simple is best. The words don’t need to be eloquent. What matters is, they’re heartfelt.

Ashe kisses him and holds him tight. “You’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always very much appreciated! <3
> 
> Find me [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/MxTicketyBoo). :D


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